She hit star status overnight, Keira Knightley probably didn't realize that getting tied into a corset and having a small part opposite Johnny Depp and another relative newcomer in Orlando Bloom would garner so much attention, but with a face like that how could we not take notice?

Considering Pirates of the Caribbean is only two years old Keira hasn't had the chance to be featured in too many roles but since that time she has found her way starring opposite the likes of Clive Owen in King Arthur, Adrien Brody in The Jacket and part of the ensemble cast in Love Actually, but it looks like 2005 is going to be her breakout year in a couple of different ways.

Aside from Domino Keira is starring in director Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice, a role in which Focus Features is already going to push Knightley's performance for an Academy Award nomination, a fact that played a large role in the release of Domino. After all, we couldn't have Keira Knightley wielding two machine guns in Domino and then stepping into the elegant lifestyle familiar to fans of the classic Jane Austen novel now could we, but it seems even when Knightley was dressed as Lizzy Bennet bits of Domino Harvey were already creeping in.

"They got me a trainer who would come down at 4:30 in the morning before I went to set to work on Pride & Prejudice and jog with me," said Knightley, "and they gave me some nun chucks and said play with those. So I was in my Jane Austin costume on the side of the set practicing my nun chucks. I then did a bit of weight training because we wanted to make it look like I could be a bounty hunter."

Despite practicing acts of violence on the set of Pride & Prejudice, the thought of Domino was far from her mind and when asked about her preparations for the two conflicting roles Keira said, "I got completely freaked out. [Tony] would be phoning me while I was on the set of Pride & Prejudice talking about [Domino] and I nearly had a meltdown. So I got so freaked out that I couldn't get my head into Domino, couldn't even think about it. Then, on my one day off, I was walking past the hairdressers and I cut all my hair off. So I cut Lizzy Bennett out of my hair and I looked into the mirror and I didn't see Lizzy Bennett anymore and I could actually get my head into Domino, but it wasn't until I cut my hair off that I could get into Domino."

If you managed to put two and two together out of the final words in that quote you realized she said she went and cut her hair off. So if you are wondering if it was planned, "No, but I thought it was a very Domino move on my part," Knightley said while looking over at director Tony Scott with a grin who responded saying, "I nearly cut my head off when I saw what she had done."

Despite the cut hair, Keira hardly resembles the real Domino Harvey so you have to wonder just what exactly it was that earned Keira the role. Producer Samuel Hadida tells us, "It is a movie [Tony] has been in love with for 10 years, [he was] trying to find somebody that would represent the vision of Domino, an English girl. He didn't take somebody from Texas, a Jessica Alba or a Jessica Biel because they are the right age. He tried to find somebody that had the right attitude, the right spirit, the right education, in order to hit closest to the real Domino."

Tony Scott elaborates on the casting decision in our other feature titled "Scott's Style" [click here], he let us know that it was simply gut instinct, and this following quote is too good not to repeat, "You always have ten other people giving you fucking reasons why you should or shouldn't use this particular person. Fortunately now I am in a strong enough position that I can say, 'Fuck off, leave me alone. I am going this way.'" You tell 'em Tony.

So with Keira aboard you can't help but wonder what has drawn her to her latest roles. While Pride & Prejudice isn't as far off from her earlier works, decisions to star in The Jacket and Domino seem to fill a different void in her filmography. "The last three films that I have done are the first three films I have had a choice about," Knightley said. "I've had several offers on the table and I've chosen to do The Jacket, Pride & Prejudice and Domino and I would guess Keira Knightley is somewhere in the middle of all of them."

Somewhere in the middle eh? So what are Keira's thoughts on the violence, nudity and swearing in Domino? A lot of us have heard this answer in some form or another, but to hear it face-to-face is definitely music to the ears.

"I'm British so the language isn't half as bad as my language normally is and I am not a purist as far as films go. If there is sex in a film that's fine if it is done well. If there is violence in a film that's fine as long as it is done well. One of my favorite films is a Korean film called Oldboy, which is probably the most violent film I have ever seen. Absolutely brilliant. I think if it is done well that's fine and I'm a fan of cinema so I love watching it and I think in [Domino] it's done brilliantly. So I've got no problem with that."

Here's to more impure films with Keira Knightley! Cheers!